Ice Bucket Challenge
[16] According to the Wall Street Journal, the Ice Bucket Challenge was begun by professional golfers as means to support various pet charities.
[17][18] One version of the challenge, which took place in Salem, Indiana, as early as May 15, 2014, involved dousing participants with cold water and then donating to a charity, for example a local child diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.
[21][22] The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation popularized the "Cold Water Challenge" in early 2014 to raise funds as an unsanctioned spin-off of the polar plunge most widely used by Special Olympics as a fundraiser.
[25][26][27] In the Summer 2015 edition of the ALS Association's internet magazine "Visions" (page 5) says that "It all started in Florida with a golfer named Chris Kennedy.
During a Boston TV interview on September 2, 2019, Frates' father implied that his family knew so much about the disease, that "he felt like he was the Nostradamus of ALS".
[43] The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, was challenged by both Alex Salmond[44] and Russell Brand,[45] but also declined in favor of a donation.
[48] Its combination of competitiveness, social media pressure, online narcissism, and low barriers to entry led to more than 2.4 million tagged videos circulating Facebook.
[51] In using social media as its platform, it accessed many people worldwide; in having its participants individually identify potential candidates – calling them out by "tagging" them – it felt personal.
[55] Celebrity participants in the 2015 challenge included Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker who took the challenge while wearing a "Free Brady" T-shirt (calling for the lifting of the suspension given to Tom Brady of the New England Patriots over Deflategate),[56] Bieber once again,[57] actor Hugh Jackman (belatedly in early September 2015)[citation needed] and actress Renee Zellweger who, in response to criticisms of the challenge for wasting water in drought conditions, used water from a drinking trough in a horse stables while standing in the trough to ensure every last drop was recycled back into its original source.
[65] An attempt at the world record for the largest number of people simultaneously performing the challenge took place September 6, 2015, in Tewkesbury as part of a fundraiser for child bereavement charity Winton's Wish.
[67] TV presenter Eamonn Holmes performed the challenge in early October on This Morning[68] after announcing he would do so while hosting the Pride of Britain Awards a few days earlier.
challenge, featured the replacement of the ice cubes with other substances, including tomato ketchup, spaghetti, pickles, beer, baby powder, coffee, and sand.
[82] A fifth anniversary commemorative mass Ice Bucket Challenge was held at Copley Square in Boston, Massachusetts, with Frates and state governor Charlie Baker in attendance.
[89] In another version, dumping the ice water over the participant's head was done in lieu of any donation, which led to some criticisms of the challenge being a form of "slacktivism".
[91] In mid-2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral on social media, particularly in the United States, with people, celebrities, politicians and athletes posting videos of themselves online and on TV participating in the event.
[93] After the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral on social media, public awareness and charitable donations to ALS charities soared.
[105] In July 2015, the Huffington Post reported on the ALS Association's summary of how the funds raised through the Ice Bucket Challenge were distributed.
[106][107] By percentage, 67% of all funds (about $77 million) went to research, 20% to patient and community services, 9% to public and professional education, 2% to additional fundraising, and 2% to external processing fees.
[108] On July 25, 2016, the ALS Association announced that, thanks in part to donations from the Ice Bucket Challenge, the University of Massachusetts Medical School has identified a third gene that is a cause for the disease.
[109] Project MinE, a global gene sequencing effort to identify genetic drivers of ALS, received $1 million from the challenge, allowing them to broaden the scope of their research to include new sources in new parts of the world.
[110] The Ice Bucket Challenge serves as a strong example of the effectiveness of digital media, showcasing its ability to spread information and awareness about various topics.
[119] This challenge was further popularized by Palestinian journalist Aymal al Aloul, and aims to increase awareness of Gazans who have lost their homes in the ongoing conflict with Israel.
[126] Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Willard Foxton described the challenge as "a middle-class wet T-shirt contest for armchair clicktivists",[127] and the Evening Standard Magazine said that "it has become less about raising funds and all about showing off your star-pulling power".
[131] William MacAskill, vice-president of Giving What We Can, an organization that advocates for people to engage in more effective altruism, was critical of the Ice Bucket Challenge, citing two chief objections.
[132][133] MacAskill's piece was met with considerable critical push-back, and he published a follow-up a few days later suggesting an Ice Bucket Challenge for causes he considered more important and cost-effective to support.
[137] In the BBC's More or Less podcast, economist Tim Harford discussed the Ice Bucket Challenge and how to select the best charities, referencing work by GiveWell.
[144] Related organisations such as the Family Research Council suggested that people participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge instead donate money to Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center, Mayo Clinic, and the John Paul II Medical Research Institute, all three of which run clinical trials with adult stem cells, rather than embryonic ones.
"[146] PETA criticized the ALS Association's Ice Bucket Challenge, saying that money raised through the fundraiser would be used to fund "archaic and painful tests on animals.
[62] Meteorologist Jason Samenow estimated that during the peak of the movement's popularity in 2014, the equivalent of 5,000,000 US gallons (19,000,000 L; 4,200,000 imp gal) of water would have been used for the challenge.
[160][161][162] Also at the time in China, various regions (including the important crop-producing Henan province) experienced months of extreme drought during the summer of 2014.
